Date: 2014-09-04

Motion Computing has announced that The City of Brenham has achieved a 30% cost savings by replacing its old mobile communications and data technology throughout its police and fire vehicles with Motion’s Windows-based rugged tablets and RAM mounts. Among the elite five percent of Texas law enforcement agencies long recognized by the Texas Police Chiefs Association Foundation for its Best Practices in operational standards, this Texas municipality acknowledged the need to modernize its mobile workforce capabilities when officers started complaining about the bulkiness and poor performance of its previous in-vehicle Panasonic Toughbook equipment.

“It is our job as public safety officials to respond quickly to citizens’ emergency calls and prevent a situation from escalating further. Yet, at the same time, we cannot sacrifice the safety of our own team or innocent bystanders to achieve that goal,” explained Lt. Dant Lange, Operations Commander for Brenham Police Department. “When I have officers complaining that the in-vehicle laptop or mount is so large that it’s creating a blind spot and forcing them to slow their driving speeds to avoid additional accidents en route to an incident, then we are not only failing on our promise to protect our heroes, but our community. We cannot afford to have the technology we embrace – the technology intended to help us better achieve our ultimate goal of public safety – instead hinder our response capabilities and endanger our first responders or citizens.”

That’s why The City of Brenham turned to Ingram Technologies for guidance on selecting a more appropriate mobile technology solution that wouldn’t increase taxpayer costs or decrease the police and fire departments’ dispatch, reporting or information request functionality while in the field. With the perfect solution in mind, Ingram Technologies introduced city officials to Motion’s extensive mobile workforce capabilities. Not only do Motion’s rugged tablets meet the Criminal Justice Information System (CJIS) requirements for secure information collection and transmission between dispatch, field and headquarters teams, but they were built to withstand the roughest workforce conditions faced by officers and firefighters – including Texas’ brutal summer heat and the 130-plus degree in-vehicle temperatures.

“It’s no secret that in our line of work, the technology we employ is bound to get a few bumps and bruises,” Lange continued. “However, here in Texas, we are also subject to extreme weather conditions that include triple-digit heat waves, thunderstorms and even the occasional freeze. With our recent investment in Motion technology, we are confident that – regardless of working conditions – our first responders will always be online and able to receive and react to real-time data as it becomes available.”

Although the Motion tablets are valued for their sturdy build, they are nowhere near as unwieldy as their competing predecessor. The Motion tablet’s sleek consumer-like design in fact gave Brenham first responders a much smaller and fully portable mobile device that allows for simple data entry and retrieval in vehicle, in the field and in the office. The large touchscreen interface, rugged backlit keyboard and adjustable viewing angle and mount height also accommodate the varying department safety guidelines and officer usage preferences while on the road. The Windows-run tablet was also immediately compatible with The City of Brenham’s Mobile CAD dispatch and New World reporting systems as well as State and Federal data systems. With a reliable and fast new way for employees to communicate real-time updates with each other regardless of location, the City of Brenham achieved significant cost savings on both the purchase of the Motion technology and the recovery of productivity levels among its first responders.

To learn more about how The City of Brenham has increased operational efficiency in the field with Motion’s mobile platform, view a video case study on youtube here.